David S. Sobel MDImagine the world without pleasure. Life would appear colorless and humorless. Human beings evolved to seek enjoyment to enhance survival. Yet, at nearly every turn pleasure has gotten a bad name. People are almost phobic about having fun. In...
Patients undergoing surgery often experience a loss of control, feeling more like victims than participants. Anxiety, fear of the unknown, fear of pain, dependency, uncertainty, and helplessness are common emotions which can intensify the perception...
More and more women work outside and inside the home. Do the double demands shouldered by working moms pose a threat to their physical health? In "A Woman's Work Is Never Done" David S. Sobel, M.D. sites evidence of the physiological impact of "role...
Most illnesses result from a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, behavioral, and psychosocial factors. Rarely is any one of these factors the sole cause of a disease. For example, many people exposed to germs do not develop illness...
Can one or two drinks a day actually be beneficial? In "Here's to Your Heart" David S. Sobel, M.D. outlines the apparent correlation of moderate drinking and a reduction of mortality from heart disease by about a third. Though even moderate alcohol...
Patients often only communicate symptoms such as pain, wheezing, swelling, itching. Physicians often remain unaware of how the symptoms impact the patient?s life. Similar symptoms may have very different importance for different patients. It is...
Today, most people don't just want to live long lives. They want to live long healthy lives, or as the old adage puts it, "to die younger, as old as possible. Most of us want to add life to years, not just years to life. We all know people who have...
By definition, "crisis" means that one's life is out of control. When faced with a health crisis, many people experience the information they receive about their condition -- and the way they receive it -- as making their feelings of being out of...
In spite of a growing body of research over the last decade documenting the economic burden of depression on individuals and on society, efforts to curb skyrocketing medical costs usually start with cuts in mental health services and benefits...
You may assume that "imagination" means "not real." But the thoughts, words, and images that flow from your imagination can have very real physiological consequences for your body. Your brain often cannot distinguish whether you are imagining...
